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Obama visits Texas to address the border crisis: Will his $3.7 billion plan solve the problem?

APTOPIX Immigration Overload Hot Spot

In this June 25, 2014 photo, a group of immigrants from Honduras and El Salvador who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally are stopped in Granjeno, Texas. Just since October, the Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley sector has made more than 194,000 arrests, nearly triple that of any other sector. Most are from Central America, and many are children. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
(Eric Gay)

President Barack Obama's visit to Texas this week is his first to the state since a flood of children immigrants from Central America reached the United States border.

In the last eight months, more than 52,000 children have made their way to the border, The New York Times reported. The number of immigration court cases awaiting decisions reached a record of 375,503 as of June 2014, according to date obtained by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. These include children fleeing poverty, drug and gang violence in Guatemala, Honduras and El Savador, Reuters reported.

Republicans blame Obama's pro-immigration policies for the influx. To counter the problem, Obama urged Congress Tuesday to support a $3.7 billion emergency measure to solve what he called "an urgent humanitarian situation." Obama's administration estimates more than 150,000 unaccompanied children younger than 18 could flee to the United State next year without government action. Obama said the nearly four billion dollars would create new detention facilities, conduct more aerial surveillance and hire more immigration judges and border patrol agents, The New York Times reported.

Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the house, called Obama's border strategy "absurd and expensive" in an op-ed piece on CNN.com.

"Why is the Obama plan so expensive? Simple. Left-wing Democrats wake up every morning knowing the answer is bigger government and more money. They just don't know what the question is.

The border crisis is a new opportunity for Obama to create even bigger government, spending even more of our children's money. In a rational world it would be an absurdity, but this is the world of Obama and Sen. Harry Reid, and nothing involving more spending and bigger government is absurd to them."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said in an op-ed piece published by USA Today the main problem with Obama's plan is that the border would remain unsecured.

"Of the $3.7 billion in President Obama's request, only $68.4 million -- or 1.8% -- is directly dedicated to border security efforts, which are absolutely essential to resolving this crisis, and avoiding more such crises in the future. Everything else is only treating a symptom of a much larger problem. And as we know with treating symptoms, the problems will continue until the root cause is resolved.

As governor of Texas, I've been to the border many times, including a June trip to visit a detention facility in McAllen. The true humanitarian disaster has to be seen to be understood, which is why it's essential the president make his own trip there as soon as possible. The fact is, this is a crisis created by failed federal policy, and a lack of will to dedicate the resources necessary to secure the border, once and for all."

Obama arrived in Texas Wednesday, with Perry waiting at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport tarmac to greet him. While Obama met with Perry in round-table discussion, the president denied the governor's request to visit the border.

Ed Rogers, in an op-ed published by The Washington Post, compared Obama's refusal to visit the border to George W. Bush's flyover of the destruction caused by Hurrican Katrina. "His refusal to even go and look disrespects Texans and everyone else affected by this illegal immigration," Rogers wrote. "It's shocking that the president would avoid visiting ground zero of what essentially constitutes an invasion of America. What does an invasion look like, if not this? Do the invaders have to be of a certain age?

In a statement Wednesday, Democratic Texas Rep. Pete Gallego said Obama shouldn't visit the border. "The president's presence along the border would create an unneeded distraction by diverting law enforcement and other resources at a critical time," Gallego said. "We don't need photo ops; we need action. The ball is in Congress' court to do this right."

"The longer Republicans in the House dither, the more time President Obama and the Democrats have to make their case that reform that does not lead to citizenship is not reform. What will the GOP do if Obama finds a way to waive his magic pen and make citizens -- or at least permanent residents -- of all the young men and women milling about in Northern Mexico around Texas seeking family reunification or fleeing the violence associated with Central and South American drug cartels? Will any of them stand up for the 'rule of law' then, as images on the nightly news tug at the heartstrings of Middle America? It's doubtful, which is why the GOP needs to move a bill to the House floor before the August recess."

The editorial board of USA Today published an editorial Wednesday that called out Republican lawmakers for blaming Obama for the border crisis, and then criticizing his proposed solution.

"The GOP critics have numerous rationales, none of them convincing, for spurning Obama's proposal. Let's call the Republican response what it is: a tactical decision to let a problem fester for political reasons. As long as the problem exists, hard-liners will be able to blame it on proposals to overhaul the nation's broken immigration laws. All of the talk of a path to citizenship is prompting people to come here before the law is passed, or so goes the argument."

Who do you think is responsible for the crisis at the border? Is it up to President Obama, Congress or both to address it? Leave a comment below or write us a letter.